Category Archives: Nokia Lumia

The Lumia 625 is definitely an odd duckling among the Nokia selection of Home windows Phones. It’s this is not on many major service providers, and doesn’t garner lots of attention, but it’s a darn awesome phone. Arriving having a 4.7” display, the Lumia 625 is really a budget phone having a giant screen. It later inspired the huge Lumia 1320 too (review now), using its rounded edges and wallet-friendly cost.

One problem with less expensive phones is obviously, less features. For instance, the Nokia exclusive 'double-tap to wake' is located of all products except the low cost ones. The Lumia 520 has it, but only for AT&ampT. The Lumia 525 has it as they are. The Lumia 625 does not have it either. So far.

Nokia has started pushing the Lumia Black firmware, that also includes Microsoft’s Update 3 towards the Home windows Phone 8 operating-system. One new feature for Lumia 625 proprietors may be the very ‘double tap to wake’ feature which was formerly missing. The update arrived on the scene not long ago, but we figured better late than never among our visitors dutifully reminded us.

Customers must feel the easy update process (Configurations &gt Phone Update &gt Look for update) to obtain both OS and firmware changes, and become around the new edition of Extra supplies + Info and Touch applications from Nokia. Once completed, customers can mind into Configurations &gt Touch and let the ‘double tap to wake’ feature.

‘Double tap to wake’ allows the display to stay active, even if in standby. Customers may then literally double tap the telephone and also the display will switch on. It’s helpful when ever attempting to look for messages or glance the beginning screen one handed, as customers can bypass the physical energy button. Obviously by using this feature will consume minimal battery existence, as there is nothing free in existence.

Regrettably, the Glance screen feature (clock and notices once the display is off) didn't allow it to be to the Lumia 625. Such as the Lumia 520 and Lumia 525, which include is simply not supported.

Perhaps you have up-to-date your Lumia 625? Tell us the way you such as the Lumia Black update, including many additional features, including camera enhancements, Driver mode and much more.

Via: WinPhoneVietThanks, tungha and InfernapeXavier, for the guidelines!

Nokia will report its 4th-quarter 2013 earnings, a seminal moment for the organization because the figures will represent the final full period that will own the hardware assets that it's supplying Microsoft. Read more [...]

A few months back I reviewed the Brando Power Jacket case for the Nokia Lumia 920. A case with a built-in battery, it could potentially double the battery life of the Lumia 920 – a dream for gamers. But the Brando case didn’t perform all that well as a charger, limiting its usefulness.

Enter Mugen Power, makers of many external batteries and cases. At long last, Mugen now offers an extended battery case for the Nokia’s original flagship Windows Phone 8 handset. The Mugen Power Battery Case for Lumia 920 comes in black or white, as well as two different battery capacities: 3000 mAh and 4700 mAh. The 4700mAh model offers 2.35x extra power on top of the 920’s built in battery. I’ve spent the last few weeks using that version as my case in order to bring you this detailed review.

Mighty Mugen Power Ranges

The Lumia 920’s built in, non-replaceable battery holds 2000 mAh of power. The Mugen Battery Case comes in both 3000 mAh and 4700 mAh sizes. The price difference between the two is only ten dollars, making the choice between models come down mostly to size and weight. The larger capacity case is a few millimeters thicker than the smaller one, and presumably heavier too.

Even the 3000 mAh case will provide more power than the Brando Power Jacket, which has a capacity of 2200 mAh. At 3000 mAh, you’re looking at 150 percent extra power on top of the 920’s internal battery – more than doubling the available power, in other words. The 4700 mAh case I’ve been using exceeds the phone’s standard battery by 235 percent, basically tripling the power it has to work with.

How well does one of these cases extend the 920’s battery life in practical terms? An unenhanced Lumia 920 will likely get 2-3 hours of playtime from a graphically intensive game. After that, you’d better plug in or you’re going to miss some calls.

With Mugen’s 4700 mAh case, I played Temple Run 2 for five hours (yar, a tad boring) without fully draining the case. The phone itself showed some battery drain; these cases can’t eliminate the fact that 920s sometimes use power faster than they can charge. But the case certainly helps!

Retraction action

The Mugen Battery Case connects to the Lumia 920 in a most unusual way. Unlike the Brando Power Jacket, this case doesn’t cover the bottom of the 920 where the phone’s micro-USB port calls its home. The bottom of the phone remains largely exposed while inside the case. The bottom-left side of the case houses a retractable micro-USB plug that provides power to the phone.

A hole at the bottom of the case holds the plug snugly when not in use. Pull the plug out of the hole and you’ll find a thin, coiled wire about three centimeters in length. The wire is built into both the micro-USB plug and the inside of the case itself. It allows just more than enough room to connect the case to the phone’s power jack.

After plugging the Mugen Battery Case’s male connector into the power jack, the case automatically starts charging the phone. No pressing a button to switch to charging mode here; connecting the case while it holds a charge is just like plugging in a charger. No getting into situations where the case is charging itself but not the phone (both can charge simultaneously), unlike the Brando Power Jacket which often stopped charging the phone.

However, the retractable plug betrays some significant design flaws. The cord itself is quite thin and can’t be replaced if it breaks on either end. Cut or tug too hard on it and your hundred dollar case drops to a value of zero. The charging plug itself is too fragile as well. It sticks out from the phone, completely unguarded. If the plug is bumped too hard or the phone gets dropped and lands on it, and the plug will bend or break.

That fragility of charging plug and cable means you probably won’t want to leave the case charging your phone all the time, as nice as the constant power supply is. When you’re walking around with the phone in-hand or in-pocket, you’ll probably feel a lot safer with the plug retracted inside of the case. Not a tradeoff we should have to make. At least Mugen Power offers a one year warranty, but those don’t usually cover damage from dropping and other accidents.

Big is beautiful

Power connector issues aside, the Mugen Battery Case is mostly a good case. It adds a significant depth to the phone and a noticeable amount of weight. The extra size doesn’t make the phone too hard to pocket or anything, though it’s certainly hard to miss when looking at the phone.

The extra weight could be a concern for some users, but not this guy. As a gamer, I’m used to holding controllers that weigh just as much as a 920 with the 4700 mAh case on. I find it perfectly comfortable; it doesn’t fatigue me a bit.

The Battery Case has cut-outs for all of the buttons along the right-side of the phone: volume, power, and camera. A little behind the volume buttons, you’ll find the micro-USB port used to charge the case itself. A tiny red light next to the port indicates the case is charging. The phone and case can charge simultaneously, by the way.

On the rear of the case, a conical cutout allows the camera and flash to work unimpeded. Four LEDs and a button occupy the bottom rear of the case, just below the Mugen Power logo. Pressing the button will light up the LEDs and indicate the case’s remaining charge. I like that the lights only come on when checked instead of wasting power on them all the time.

Not the full wraparound

If the Mugen Battery Case has one more flaw, it’s how much of the phone it actually covers. The case does not cover the top or bottom of the phone, although it does extend about a millimeter beyond the phone’s borders. This provides some minimal protection to those sides of the phone, but not much. More egregiously, the case does not cover the front of the phone and the screen at all. The 920’s most fragile side - the one that most needs protection – is the only side that gets none.

Overall Impression

The lack of protection to the front of the phone belies the Mugen Power Battery Case’s strange design ethic. The number one reason anybody buys a vase is to protect their phone. This case offers more protection than no case at all, but not to the all-important screen. I dropped my phone and got several new scratches that wouldn’t have happened had I kept using the Brando Power Jacket. The fragility of this case’s charging cable and plug is also worrying, especially given the high cost of the case.

On the other hand, the Mugen Power Battery Case for Nokia Lumia 920 is one hell of an external battery in either power capacity. I absolutely adore how much extra playtime and usage I get from my 920 with this thing attached. When I’m not gaming, I can go an extra day or two without plugging into a wall. And when I do game, I can play for as long as I want without being tethered to a charger.

For me, the benefits of the case’s voluminous power supply just outweigh the protection I give up from other cases. But I might feel differently if my Lumia 920 was at the beginning of its life instead of the tail end. If you’re looking to extend your 920’s day-to-day gaming life and you don’t have trouble keeping your phones free of bruises, give Mugen Power’s solution a look.

"Better late than never" is really a cliché that appears especially right for Nokia. It has been a couple of several weeks within the making however the guaranteed Lumia Black update is finally here to create some high-finish features to a lot of Nokia's Home windows Phone 8 Lumia phones.

Nokia dropped the title Lumia Black last October at Nokia World 2013 because the working reputation for an update to the Home windows Phone 8 line. The update was guaranteed to create a number of features which were located on the Nokia Lumia 1520 flagship, also revealed on that day. The update is finally here and appears to provide, with the exception that some features are only open to certain mobile phones that satisfy the hardware needs.

A great number of the brand new features center around imaging and camera. The brand new Nokia Camera application combines three camera modes into one, video, Wise Camera, and Nokia Professional Camera that allows customers change configurations via translucent concentric circles overlaid on the top from the viewfinder, permitting these to immediately begin to see the results of the brand new configurations. Also visiting individuals Lumia phones which have 1 GB of RAM is Nokia Refocus, an application that allows you concentrate on any anchorman within the viewfinder, clouding the relaxation, to have an artistic effect.

The Lumia Black update several great new applications. Nokia Beamer arrives for phones with 1 GB of RAM or even more, letting customers beam not only images but additionally documents and presentations to the HTML5-enabled screen simply by checking a QR Code. Nokia Storyteller, which first showed around the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 2520 this past year, collates your photos by place and time, creating a fascinating story that you could view over an interactive map. Storyteller is going to be on all products finding the update.

However the update is not no more than fancy additional features. Nokia and Microsoft have labored together to create Lumia Home windows Phone 8 simpler for well. Lumia Black introduces a brand new homescreen tile known as Application Folder, which, as you may have suspected, is really a container for grouping applications and configurations right into a single location in your homescreen. Nokia Glance has additionally been update to version 5. and today supports exhibiting as much as 5 notification symbols on screen while offering evening time colors of red-colored, eco-friendly, or blue to really make it simpler to see the screen even at nighttime. The recording below demonstrates a number of Lumia Black's highlights.

The Nokia Lumia Black update is beginning to unveil and will also be open to a great number of Nokia's Home windows Phone 8 mobile phones. For the time being, however, just the Lumia 1020 and also the Lumia 925 are experiencing the update, with other people to follow along with within the days in the future.

Benchmarks don’t mean much towards the average consumer, but they’re an enjoyable method for us to check and stack different mobile phone models.

Earlier today Basemark OS II released on Home windows Phone, a benchmarking application for Home windows Phone. We’ve were built with a couple of other benchmark applications within the Home windows Phone Store before, but that one also offers applications on Android and iOS. We thought it might be fun to operate the exam on all of the Home windows Phone products we've within our possession, such as the apple iphone 5s.

So how exactly does a Lumia 1020 fair facing a Lumia 925? Does that extra little bit of RAM within the new Lumia 525 really matter from the Lumia 520? And just how fast is really a Lumia 1520? Read onto discover!

Lumia 520 and Lumia 525 Benchmark

So how exactly does an additional 512 Megabytes of RAM matter for benchmarks? We place the 512 Megabytes Lumia 520 using its 1 GHz CPU facing the updated Lumia 525 and its 1 GB of RAM (same CPU) to discover.

Not surprisingly, that extra little bit of RAM enhances performance, particularly when it involves running graphics. That should not be considered a surprise for individuals attempting to run games on their own Lumia 520, as clearly the possible lack of RAM affects it in gaming. You can now understand why new games aren't enhanced for 512 Megabytes products, as that decrease in RAM is really a bottleneck. Still, the main difference is modest, meaning the everyday experience should not be too drastic.

Lumia 520 and Lumia 525 Camera test

Lumia 1320 and Samsung ATIV S Benchmark

In writing, the large six-inch Lumia 1320 and also the more sensible ATIV S appear completely different, however in the benchmarks, the Lumia 1320 is just a hair faster with enhanced 'System' performance. That's probably because of its CPU, that is clocked slightly greater (1.7 GHz versus 1.5 GHz around the ATIV S).

Lumia 1320 and Samsung ATIV S Camera test

Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020 Benchmark

Once more, the Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020 are extremely similar in specs (putting away that whopping camera located on the Lumia 1020). Only one section of difference? The Lumia 1020 has 1 GB much more of RAM. As an effect, it narrowly is better than the Lumia 925, although the lead is modest, borderline minimal, as you would expect.

Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020 Camera test

Just in case you possessed proof the massive Lumia 1020 camera does slow things lower when in comparison towards the Lumia 925, here you decide to go.

apple iphone 5s and Lumia 1520 Benchmark

Apples, meet oranges. As the Lumia 1520 and Apple apple iphone 5s are altogether different for hardware and their OS, how that hardware works is of interest here. The 5s notoriously sports a custom, 64-bit A7 processor, that is facing the Lumia 1520's leading edge quad-core Snapdragon 800, which is 2.2 GHz. No real surprise then to determine Apple handily crush the Lumia 1520 when it comes to raw System performance.

Oddly enough, the Lumia 1520 bests the apple iphone 5s in the Memory department, with 3x the score. Consequently, the general scores offer a similar experience backward and forward flagship phones, but you need to provide the ultimate win to Apple, who narrowly edged the Lumia 1520 (999 versus 897).

iPphone 5s and Lumia 1520 Camera test

The Lumia 1520 certainly advantages of the Snapdragon 800 having a much enhanced camera within the Lumia 1020--a minimum of when it comes to raw speed. It cannot catch the super nimble 5s though using its 97 rank, putting rid of it in front of the Lumia 1520. However, 20 Mega pixel versus 8 Mega pixel matters too.

Wrapping up

Exactly what do we study from these benchmark tests? More RAM becomes an problem for Home windows Phone when it is below 1 GB. While 2 GB likewise helps, its gains over 1 GB products are modest. We can easily see simply how much better a quad-core Snapdragon 800, which is 2.2 GHz might help the OS become faster and faster--for your camera. Clearly, the Lumia 1020 might have achieved positive results out of this more recent chipset. Almost always there is the next time, Nokia!

Say what you should about Apple, however they do hardware right, going to date as to obtain their own plastic for his or her apple iphones. Its smart off for system speed, but it appears as though their memory architecture might be enhanced a little. In the finish during the day though, it works nearly on componen using the Lumia 1520.

Finally, we have to bear in mind that the phone may score greater or less than another, but in the finish during the day that’s no indication of methods it’ll behave in tangible-world use. Home windows Phone is clearly a mobile-enhanced OS and it'll only improve as more recent hardware options come online.

Editor's note: although all applications were closed when running the benchmarks, because of various unmanageable factors on each device, we predict there to become some variation involving the results and ours. However the overall trend ought to be just right.

We've lately unboxed the Nokia Lumia 1320, your budget-friendly form of the Nokia Lumia 1520. The unit continues to be not broadly available, however, you can grab one on eBay should you can’t wait any more. Nokia Malaysia has additionally just introduced their prices and availability for that Lumia 1320. It'll start selling there on The month of january 17th for 1199 MYR (roughly $369 USD).

Within an e-mailed pr release, Dick Yoong, the nation Manager of Malaysia and Brunei of Nokia states:

"Building on the prosperity of the Lumia 1520, we looked to help expand our innovation offering by getting the very best Lumia encounters from Nokia and also the latest from Home windows Phone to some large screen smartphone, at a less expensive cost."

The Nokia Lumia 1320 includes a 6-inch 720x1280 display having a dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1 GB of RAM, microSD expansion, 3400 mAh battery along with a 5-megapixel camera. As the Lumia 1320 includes a lower cost point compared to Lumia 1520, still it brings high-finish encounters for example streaming limitless music free of charge with Nokia MixRadio and installing your preferred playlists for offline enjoyment. Additionally, it offers navigation and mapping services came from here Drive and HERE Maps, that can come pre-loaded.

Nokia Lumia 1320 purchasers will even like this the device’s 6-inch display supports super sensitive touch to ensure that it can nonetheless be combined with lengthy nails or perhaps with mitts on. Gorilla Glass 3 can also be incorporated.

Obviously, in a lower cost, you will see some sacrifices. The Lumia 1320 includes a less effective processor, lower screen resolution, lower megapixel count, less internal storage, and fewer RAM compared to Nokia Lumia 1520. We’ll have our full overview of the Lumia 1320 soon for additional particulars.

If you are in Malaysia, are you currently obtaining a Lumia 1320 around the 17th? Tell us within the comments!

Last we Nokia shared the Lumia Black update had begun the entire process of moving to various mobile phone models around the world. The Nokia Lumia 925 and Lumia 1020 were the very first products to get it, along with other products obtaining the update within the coming days. A support page was setup enabling you to look into the status from the rollout upon your country and company. We’re to not get tips that various unlocked (and locked) Lumia 820’s and 920’s are actually getting Lumia Black.

Lumia Black, as you need to know right now, is really a firmware update for Nokia mobile phone models. It brings additional features towards the mix like Nokia Glance Screen 2. and support for Bluetooth LE. It is also needed to operate newer and more effective and up-to-date Nokia applications like Refocus, Beamer, Storyteller and Camera.

The guidelines we’re receiving claim that Lumia 920’s which are unlocked in India are some of the places obtaining the update. In Italia, customers will also be apparently finding the Lumia Black firmware update on their own Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 products. If put forth the Nokia Support page you will see that a few of these regions continue to be listed as “coming soon”, meaning page is most likely just a little behind the bend. If you notice your company and region listed as not far off, you may be getting that update today.

Abby just checked his Lumia 920 and truly does possess the Lumia Black update open to him in India, his Lumia 920 is unlocked.

Possess a Lumia 820 or Lumia 920? You might like to get into your phone configurations and scroll lower towards the “phone update” section and appearance for those who have an update waiting. If you discover Lumia Black, make sure to list your phone, company, and country below within the comments. Remember to look at Nokia’s software update page to determine the status in your situation.